30 HISTORY OF 



trich ; for other birds have several sorts, some of wliich are soft 

 and dowiiy, and others hard and strong. Ostrich feathers are 

 almost all as soft as down, being utterly unfit to serve the animal 

 for flying, and still less adapted to be a proper defence against 

 external injury. The feathers of other birds have the webs 

 broader on one side than the other, but those of the ostrich have 

 their shaft exactly in the middle. The upper part of the head 

 and neck is covered with a very fine, clear, white hair, that 

 shines like the bristles of a hog ; and in some places there are 

 small tufts of it, consisting of about twelve hairs, which grow 

 from a single shaft about the thickness of a pin. 



At the end of each wing there is a kind of spur, almost like 

 the quill of a porcupine. It is an inch long, being hollow, and 

 of a horny substance. There are two of these on each wing, the 

 largest of which is at the extremity of the bone of the wing, and 

 the other a foot lo.ver. The neck seems to be more slender in 

 proportion to that of other birds, from its not being furnished 

 with feathers. The skin in this part is of a livid flesh-colour, 

 which some improperly would have to be blue. The bill is short 

 and pointed, and two inches and a half at the beginning. The 

 external form of the eye is like that of man, the upper eye-lid 

 being adorned with eye-lashes, which are longer than those on 

 the lid below. The tongue is small, very short, and composed 

 of cartilages, ligaments, and membranes, intermixed with fleshy 

 fibres. In some it is about an inch long, and very thick at the 

 bottom. In others it is but half an inch, being a little forked at 

 the end. 



The thighs are very fleshy and large, being covered with a 

 white skin, inclining to redness, and wrinkled in the manner of 

 a net, whose meshes will admit the end of a finger. Some have 

 very small feathers here and there on the thighs ; and others again 

 have neither feathers nor \rankles. What are called the legs of 

 birds, in this are covered before with large scales. The end ot 

 the foot is cloven, and has two veiy large toes, which, like the 

 leg, are covered with scales. These toes are of unequal sizes 

 The largest, which is on the inside, is seven inches long, includ- 

 ing the claw, which is near three-fourths of an inch in length, 

 and almost as broad. The other toe is but four inches long, and 

 is without a claw. 



The internal carts of this animal are formed with no less sur- 



